Laura Alber Sells 17,839 Shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 17,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.51, for a total transaction of $3,184,439.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 859,088 shares in the company, valued at $153,355,798.88. This trade represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, November 26th, Laura Alber sold 12,161 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.07, for a total value of $2,201,992.27.
• On Monday, September 15th, Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total value of $18,015,300.00.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $1.66 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $181.24. The stock had a trading volume of 968,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,707,113. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.73 and its 200 day moving average is $183.17. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.07 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 54.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $206.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $34,410,000 after purchasing an additional 122,180 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth $309,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,080 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 153.7% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% during the second quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 8,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.